Courts

Former Judge Dragged Out Of Courtroom After She's Sentenced To 6 Months In Jail

Gives new meaning to getting dragged on the internet.

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Tracie Hunter (image via YouTube/WCPO)

Absolute chaos erupted in an Ohio courtroom when former juvenile judge Tracie Hunter was sentenced to six months in jail.

According to prosecutors, the former judge improperly received documents about a teenager who complained they were struck by Stephen Hunter, the judge’s brother, who worked as a youth corrections officer and then passed them on to her brother. Tracie Hunter was convicted of a fourth degree felony, unlawful interest in a public contract. The conviction came down in 2014, but a series of appeals and legal maneuvers kept her out of jail until now.

On Monday, the former judge appeared before Judge Patrick Dinkelacker who ordered she should serve the six-month sentence imposed in 2014. But, as reported by WCPO Cincinnati, there was a lot of pressure on Dinkelacker to not execute the sentence against Hunter. Judge Dinkelacker said he received 45 postcards at his home asking him not to send Hunter to jail, and local politicians also made their appeal:

In a letter, Mayor John Cranley asked Dinkelacker to not execute Hunter’s sentence.

Cranley said Hunter should not be placed in jail because she’s been punished enough professionally and because she has not committed a violent crime.

“I appreciate that she has been convicted but serving prison time seems to me to be disproportionate to her crime,” Cranley said.

Vice Mayor Chris Smitherman also wrote a letter to Dinkelacker asking him not to execute Hunter’s sentence.

Smitherman asked if Dinkelacker imposed the sentence that he would consider a court order that would allow for an early release at Sheriff Jim Neil’s discretion.

But Dinkelacker said he would not bow to pressure and imposed the jail sentence.

Hunter has said she believes her prosecution was politically motivated:

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“I violated no laws, I did not secure a public contract, I did not secure employment for my brother who worked for the court for about seven years before I was elected judge. They need to drop these unrighteous and I believe unlawful charges against me.”

When Dinkelacker ordered Hunter taken into custody, her supporters in the courtroom began shouting in anger. At least one of the supporters wearing a “Justice for Judge Hunter” shirt was taken into custody after she rushing officers. Hunter stands, then appears to go limp as officers drag her out of the courtroom.

You can watch the scene as it develops below.

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headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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